Soda Biscuits
One quart of flour, teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix together in a bowl, then add a tablespoonful of very fresh lard, and one cupful of milk. Mix with the hand quickly. Cut in small round pieces, and put in a pan and bake.
Despite the old-fashioned name, these are quick baking-powder biscuits — tender, fast, and mixed entirely by hand.
- “One quart of flour”A quart of flour is about 4 cups. This makes a generous batch; halve everything for a small pan.
- Adjust the leavening2 teaspoons baking powder for 4 cups of flour is modest; modern bakers often use closer to 1 Tbsp per 2 cups for a tall rise, so add a little more if you like them lofty.
- “Very fresh lard”Cold lard gives the flakiest biscuits; cut it into the flour until crumbly. Cold butter or vegetable shortening substitutes directly.
- Work quickly“Mix with the hand quickly” is the whole secret — over-handling toughens biscuits. Bring the dough just together, pat it out, and cut.
- A hot ovenBiscuits want real heat: bake at 450°F for 10–15 minutes, until well risen and golden on top.
The name soda biscuit is a fossil from an earlier kitchen. Before commercial baking powder spread in the mid-nineteenth century, cooks leavened quick biscuits with saleratus — an early baking soda — activated by sour milk or buttermilk. When baking powder, which blends the soda with its own acid, made the process nearly foolproof, the recipes quietly changed but the familiar old name often stuck. This one is a perfect example of that habit: it still says “soda” while reaching for the newer, more reliable powder to do the lifting.
From page 50 of the 1904 edition.
Original page from the book
